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US ENDS AID TO PALESTINIAN REFUGEE AGENCY UNRWA

Written by Ibrahim Ramthan

The US State Department announced last Friday that the US will be ending all funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Palestine. UNRWA is currently responsible for supporting more than five million displaced persons in the Occupied Territories – providing healthcare, education and social services. President Donald Trump has previously claimed that the US received “no appreciation or respect” for the large sums of aid it has provided. The Palestinian ambassador accused the US of turning back on its duty to the international community – specifically the UN’s General Assembly resolution in 1949. However, the move is in line with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s calls for UNRWA’s funding to be cut gradually and its responsibilities transferred to the UN’s global refugee agency, the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).